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EDITORS’ NOTES

French Montana doesn’t have much of a singing voice, but what he hasn’t got in pipes, he makes up for in knowing his audience (along with plenty of Auto-Tune). Jungle Rules comes four years after the Bronx native’s debut and is heavy on longing, loving, and leaning in to the notion that pop melody is integral for rap albums. The task is outsourced occasionally (Marc E. Bassy on “She Workin,” Swae Lee on “Unforgettable”) but falls on French for the most part, the rapper using Ben Billions and Harry Fraud to push his voice to new heights.

Jungle Rules

EDITORS’ NOTES

French Montana doesn’t have much of a singing voice, but what he hasn’t got in pipes, he makes up for in knowing his audience (along with plenty of Auto-Tune). Jungle Rules comes four years after the Bronx native’s debut and is heavy on longing, loving, and leaning in to the notion that pop melody is integral for rap albums. The task is outsourced occasionally (Marc E. Bassy on “She Workin,” Swae Lee on “Unforgettable”) but falls on French for the most part, the rapper using Ben Billions and Harry Fraud to push his voice to new heights.

About French Montana

A rapper who built an indie empire with his Cocaine City imprint, French Montana was born Karim Kharbouch in Morocco but immigrated to the U.S. while in his teens. He set up shop in the Bronx and began releasing his Cocaine City series of DVDs in 2002, mixing interviews with established hip-hop artists and unsigned talent. Around 2009 he began releasing his own mixtape CDs with DJs like DJ Drama, Evil Empire, and Big Mike as his hosts. That same year he would be signed to Akon's Konvict Musik label, but in late 2011 it was announced that they had parted ways and that French was signing to both P. Diddy's Bad Boy and Rick Ross' Maybach Music imprints in a unique joint venture. His 2012 single, "Pop That," would be the first release for the united labels, while 2013 saw the release of his debut album, Excuse My French. A series of mixtapes, each with an increasing R&B influence, brought Montana to 2016, when he dropped Casino Life 2: Brown Bag Legend. The mixtape included the hit single "Moses" featuring Chris Brown and Migos. A full LP -- MC4 -- was slated for the end of the year, but after the album was leaked by a retailer months before its official release, Montana scrapped the rollout entirely and issued it as a mixtape. MC4 (aka "Mac & Cheese 4") featured appearances by the Weeknd, Drake, Jeezy, A$AP Rocky, Kodak Black, Miguel, Nas, Kanye West, DJ Khaled, Beanie Sigel, Jadakiss, Styles P, the Alchemist, Max B, and Chinx. The following year, Montana returned with his official sophomore effort, Jungle Rules. The LP included guests like the Weeknd, Travis Scott, Pharrell Williams, Quavo, Future, T.I., and Young Thug. ~ David Jeffries